Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Comments on Why isn't voltage of electric chair higher?

Parent

Why isn't voltage of electric chair higher?

+2
−3

I recall vividly a story told by my grandfather who worked with high voltage power lines. A worker drove heavy machinery into 700kV line and then jumped out of the truck, instantly combusting upon touching the ground.

I recently read about executions by electric chair, and got curious as to what voltage is used, since the described process seemed to last upwards to a minute, which seems incredibly unnecessary. Various sources indicate that voltage ranging from 1400V-2300V is used, most often figuring around 2000V. If we know that it is current that kills, it seems intuitive to use much higher voltage to achieve higher current, in effect speeding up the process.

Are there any considerations from electrical perspective, such as safety regulations, fuse ratings etc. that could be a reason for using this particular voltage and not going higher?

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

1 comment thread

General comments (9 comments)
Post
+2
−1

I think your grandfathers story is, shall we say, apocryphal.

You should know that electrocution kills by stopping the heart (or causing fibrillation), and the heart must be kept from beating long enough for the person to die. It only takes a few mA to accomplish this and there is no benefit...no speedup...in using drastically higher voltages or currents.

Some people have been struck (or nearly struck) by lightning and survived. The high voltage stopped their heart but the heart started beating again without intervention.

On the other hand, using higher voltages requires more expensive equipment and presents a greater risk to bystanders.

Please don't interpret anything I have said here as support for capital punishment.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

1 comment thread

General comments (2 comments)
General comments
narnian99‭ wrote almost 4 years ago · edited almost 4 years ago

I don't want to promote anything like "snuff movies" or the like, and the video I refer to below is not for those easily distressed, but I recalled a video of a man dying pretty much instantly in similar circumstances to the grandfathers story. It shows a man being urged down from a train in India, but instead he grabs hold of the live catenary cable. You have been warned, but you can Google search for "man died on train by current in india" and it probably be the top result.

Kranulis‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

I do see what you mean. And the train line seems to be "only" 25kV. Since 700kV is 28 times more, I also think that the story could be true.